Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) issued a blistering response to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Tuesday after he has attempted to seek revenge on the Arizona senator and threatened demote him from his military rank.
Kelly, a member of the Armed Services Committee, partnered with several other Democrats and former military and intelligence officers to warn military members not to follow any illegal orders in a video and expects that it will come up Wednesday during a Senate hearing, CNN's Manu Raju reported.
"Talk about how this is a law enforcement operation. But if, in fact, 150 airplanes were used from multiple services, it feels, you know, less to me, law enforcement and more like a military operation," Kelly said.
"Let me make it perfectly clear. This letter or anything that Pete Hegseth says or does to me, is in no way going to affect the way I do my job and represent my constituents in the United States Senate. Ain't happening. So, you know his option, you know, right now, is he can continue with this kind of bull----, or he can go take a hike. That's his options. And if I have an opportunity to, you know, tell him that tomorrow, maybe I will."
Most members of Congress have reportedly had zero briefings on the operation in Venezuela, Raju added.
"And that last comment referring to that feud that is ongoing with the Secretary of Defense," Raju said. "So expect some fireworks potentially in these Senate and House briefings that will take place tomorrow. Because a lot of questions persist, particularly among Democrats who say that the administration has been far less forthcoming about its plans in Venezuela."